Kerry shrugs off Israeli criticism

WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday widespread criticism of his efforts to win a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas don't worry him and said he will continue to work toward that goal because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked him to.

"I have taken hits before in politics, I am not worried about it," he told reporters at the State Department. "This is not about me."

Kerry said he is convinced that a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza followed by negotiations to resolve the underlying causes of the conflict is "more appropriate" than continuing to wage war.

"I am not going to worry about personal attacks," he said, adding that he and President Barack Obama are convinced "it is more appropriate to try to resolve the underlying issues at a negotiating table than to continue a tit-for-tat of violence that will invite more violence and perhaps a greater downward spiral which would be much more difficult to recover from."

Kerry has come under harsh criticism in Israel and among its supporters for pushing a cease-fire last week that critics believe will hurt the security of the Jewish state and give legitimacy to the militant Hamas movement that controls Gaza. On Monday, several senior Obama administration officials hit back at the criticism and defended Kerry's efforts as those of a true friend to Israel.

Though he said he wasn't "worried" by the criticism, Kerry showed flashes of pique in his comments, noting at one point that he had a 100-percent pro-Israel voting record in the Senate and would not "take a second seat to anybody" in his devotion to Israel's security.

Kerry also said he wouldn't be pushing for a ceasefire if Netanyahu hadn't asked him to.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu himself said to me, 'Can you try to get a humanitarian cease-fire for this period of time?' And if it weren't for his commitment to it, obviously the president of the United States and I would not be trying to make this effort," Kerry said.

"Now either I take his commitment at face value or someone is playing a different game here, and I hope that's not the fact," he said.

Comments

The entire Obama administration is anti semetic, but only now has it broken into the open.

Obama has no foreign policy. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordon want Hamas CLEANED OUT. They know they are merely a surrogate for Iran.

Obama may be biting off a lot more than he can chew as he turns the entire region AGAINST HIM!

He did indicate in one of this books that if he ever had to decide to to 'side with', it would be Islam. That is his choice, but he best not forget that there are about 330,000,000 Americans who have a choice as well!

As he timorously lumbers thru intricate foreign policy issues he is not equipped to deal with, Lurch will only complicate the matter instead of helping it. He will get criticism because the traitorous medal dumper has no skills here, so at least they seem prepared for that.

bn... they find them doing things they shouldn,t be doing and wse that to get them to do their bidding. There is something being held over the heads ( quietly of course) of these people that in my opinion would be devestating if let out. So they comply and do as told. No real AMERICAN would do what they do.

What is it about this man's ego (and that of his boss as well) that won't allow him to understand that nobody takes his "Position Of Power And Political Expertise" seriously. They are both laughing stock Politicians to every Leader in the World, very sad but true...